World Energy Use

"Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it."
- attributed to Mark Twain

There is much talk about converting to renewable energy resources but what has the world accomplished?
A report by British Petroleum, 2011 Statistical Review of World Energy, reveals that while renewable usage grew at an amazing rate, Fossil fuels gained market share overall. How can wind & solar increase at a greater rate but lose ground? Consider: would you rather have 70% interest on $100 or 1% interest on one million dollars?

Wind grew by 24.6% and solar by 73%. This is a fantastic increase but the total energy from wind and solar remains very small; Solar amounts to only 0.1% of global electric power, Wind is now 1.6% of global electric power. So even if these had grown by 400% they would still be dwarfed by even a modest increase in coal or oil.

An interesting offshoot of the study. China used 2/3 of the coal consumed last year and has surpassed the US as the world's #1 energy consumer. China passed the US for CO2 emissions five years ago.

For the 11th straight year, oil has a smaller slice of the global energy pie (now 33.6%). This is not to say oil usage went down. In fact it increased by 3.1% last year. But coal grabbed more of the pie with an increase of 29.6% for a total of 25.6%. We may see coal surpass oil if China continues on its present course.

Bottom Line

There are some who believe that high oil prices are here to stay. They point to ever increasing energy demands from China (up 11.2% last year ). Another indicator: while global oil use increased by 3.1%, the production of oil only increased by 2.2%. This was the strongest increase in production in 16 years but not enough to meet a growing demand.

Technology

Energy and persistence conquer all things.
-Benjamin Franklin

When you think "big" technology perhaps your mind goes to the military with tanks, battleships, the Pentagon building (world's largest office building in floor space). But this is peanuts compared to civil engineering. Imagine the size of hydroelectric dams, skyscrapers, thousands of miles of roads through all types of terrain, etc. And then think of the equipment used to make these. Giant dump trucks with tires taller than a person. Cranes as large as a city block.

The Shell gas company is creating a new entry in the competition for "big". The Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) facility will be nearly one-third of a mile long and tip the scales at up to 600,000 tons; that's six times heavier than America's largest aircraft carrier. FLNG will be a floating drilling rig and refrigerator used to extract, cool and offload liquefied natural gas into tanker ships. Starting in 2017 it will stay permanently moored at the Prelude gas field northwest of Australia for the next 25-plus years.

Bottom Line

Ann Pickard, chair of Shell in Australia, says that the Prelude FLNG facility will be a "game changer for the energy industry."

Kerosene

Kilometers are shorter than miles.  Save gas, take your next trip in kilometers. 
~George Carlin

For the past ten years my wife has been a tour guide at Kykuit, the summer home of J.D Rockefeller. Perhaps you know that by most accounts, JDR is the wealthiest man in modern history. His fortune at his death (1937) was equal to nearly 2% of all the wealth in the nation. And you may recall that he made his money in Oil and created the Standard Oil Company (the world's first and largest multinational corporation until it was broken up by the Supreme Court in 1911.)

What you may not know is that Standard Oil's initial wealth was built not upon gasoline but kerosene which was used in oil lamps before the invention of the light bulb (1879) and the availability of electricity in homes (1905-1925). Before 1900, gasoline was considered a waste byproduct of oil refinement. JDR was very lucky. While the market for kerosene vanished in the early 20th century, a new market for gasoline powered cars was created and flourished and kept Standard Oil in business.

If you're like me, you may be clueless on what the difference is between kerosene and gasoline. So here's what I found...

Crude oil pumped out­ of the ground is a black liquid called petroleum which is composed of hydrocarbon molecules of different lengths. The length affects the molecular properties. The shortest chains are gases: CH₄ (methane), C₂H₆ (ethane), C₃H₈ (propane) and C₄H₁₀ (butane). The chains above C₁₉ are solid at room temperature while the chains in the middle are liquids. If you deduce from this that molecule length changes the boiling temperature, you're right!

According to HowStuffWorks.com,

The chains from C₇H₁₆ through C₁₁H₂₄ are blended together and used for gasoline. All of them vaporize at temperatures below the boiling point of water. That's why if you spill gasoline on the ground it evaporates very quickly.
Next is kerosene, in the C₁₂ to C₁₅ range, followed by diesel fuel and heavier fuel oils (like heating oil for houses).
Next come the lubricating oils. These oils no longer vaporize in any way at normal temperatures. For example, engine oil can run all day at 250 degrees F (121 degrees C) without vaporizing at all. Oils go from very light (like 3-in-1 oil) through various thicknesses of motor oil through very thick gear oils and then semi-solid greases. Vasoline falls in there as well.
Chains above the C₂₀ range form solids, starting with paraffin wax, then tar and finally asphaltic bitumen, which is used to make asphalt roads.

The boiling point of hydrocarbons also impacts its flammability. A lit match tossed onto gasoline will burn aggressively. If you drop a match into diesel or kerosene, the match will go out. For this reason kerosene is safer than gasoline in the home and Diesel fuel is safer for trucks with giant gas tanks and for military vehicles. It takes a very high pressure for Diesel to burn. 

Bottom Line

Kerosene is typically (and in some jurisdictions legally required to be) stored in a blue container in order to avoid it getting confused with the much more flammable gasoline, which is typically kept in a red container. Diesel fuel is generally stored in yellow containers.

Today kerosene is used as a cooking fuel in less developed countries and for portable stoves for backpackers. There are also kerosene space heaters for use during power failures. (Not recommended for closed indoor areas without a chimney due to the danger of build-up of carbon monoxide gas.)

The Amish, who abstain from electricity, still rely on kerosene for lighting at night.

Ethanol

“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field.” - President Dwight David Eisenhower

It's rare for a politician to admit he was wrong...

Gore: On second thought, I was just pandering to the farm vote on ethanol, from http://hotair.com/

“It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for (U.S.) first generation ethanol,” said Al Gore speaking at a green energy business conference. “First generation ethanol I think was a mistake. The energy conversion ratios are at best very small."

Worse, the ethanol subsidies have sparked a price war as we shove corn byproducts into our gas tanks.  Gore now admits that “the competition with food prices is real.” So why did he promote Ethanol while a Senator? "I paid particular attention to the farmers in my home state of Tennessee, and I had a certain fondness for the farmers in the state of Iowa because I was about to run for president.” This fondness for farmers and their votes cost the US almost $8 billion in subsidies last year.

According to a recent report by two professors, ethanol contains 76,000 BTUs per gallon, but producing that ethanol from corn takes 98,000 BTUs. So instead of saving energy, we lose energy by using ethanol. By comparison, a gallon of gasoline contains 116,000 BTUs per gallon but only costs 22,000 BTUs to drill the well, transport it, and refine it for a net energy gain.

You may have noticed in Gore's quote above, a mention of  "first generation ethanol." What's that? First generation means fuel from corn and was the first ethanol process to go into wide scale production. Gore is switching his support to 2nd generation ethanol that is made from wood, waste fibers, and grass so as not to drive up the price of food. That's great for food prices but still bad energy policy. Turning wood and grass into ethanol is less effective than corn so the country will lose even more energy.

Bottom Line

Don't forget that politics is rarely about the good of people. "Follow the money" as they say and see who is really profiting from new laws and polices.

BTW - I read a story recently that "Follow the money" was never said by Deepthroat to the two reporters covering the Watergate break in. The line was created for the movie, All the President's Men.

Help with Winter Heating

"If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?" - Steven Wright

In New York there are signs that winter is approaching - frost on the ground in the morning and even a snow forecast! So with much regret we turned on the house heat and started burning oil. I say with regret because heating oil is VERY expensive this year - a delivery we got last week cost nearly $4/gallon.
Unlike most of America which uses gas or coal for heating, there are many in the North Eastern states that use oil. And not everyone will be able to afford the bill. If this is your situation then check out Consumerist.com on the topic of heat. A recent story, Ways To Get Help With Paying For Heat, recommends the following...

1. Low-Income Housing and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Direct funding for heating bills from October to March

2. The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) Funds "low-income" homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient

3. Check with your local electrical company for winter assistant plans.
For example: Con Edison provides assistance with bills through the winter months with Level Billing, energy grants for needy families, and payment plan options; 1 (800) 75-CONED.

4. Look for a Salvation Army, an American Red Cross, or a local advocacy center in your town or city.

BOTTOM LINE
Data collected in 2001 indicates that nearly 600 deaths a year are caused by extreme winter weather. Over half of these will be elderly, children or disabled adults in homes unable to afford adequate heating. In late 2008 gas/electricity shut-offs have been running 17 percent higher than last year among customers of New York state's major utilities, and 22 percent higher in economically hard-hit Michigan. Also up are Pennsylvania, Florida and California.

Under the laws of New York and many Eastern and Midwestern states, power CAN NOT be shut off for nonpayment during winter months.